Brachiolope Media Network - Natural Sciences

Ep 154: Science... sort of - Whether Or Not We Should

00:00:00 - After some time back east Patrick has started wondering if we should kill all the mosquitos. An article from Nature intern Janet Fang explores the issue and the paleopals discuss their own awesome ideas on the matter.
00:25:00 - Like male mosquitoes, the paleopals also prefer plants to blood, but for the purposes of the show the guys usually weight for it to ferment a bit first. Patrick "enjoys" a Corona light, Ryan points out that his beer is overpriced based on it's isotopic composition. Because he's a jerk. Ryan is having a hard cider with the addition of a bitters infused sugar cube. Jacob is intrigued, but is himself having a Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat, leading to vociferous lamentations of autumnal beers.
00:35:00 - If you survived a plane crash would you care if the pilot happened to be drunk? What if him being drunk was the reason the plane landed at all? These questions and more are explored in Trailer Trash Talk via the preview for the upcoming film Flight.
00:48:30 - Neal Stephenson wrote about the future of the internet in the year 2000. Now he's lamenting the supposed technological stagnation the internet itself has cost. His solution? Build a 20km space tower! The guys talk about the feasibility of such an idea, whether or not it would have the desired effect, and the interplay between innovation and imagination.
01:09:30 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like space towers, neither are actually in space. Patrick begins with a Facebook photo from Aussie fan Rikka P. who wanted to show us his 6 year old son explaining titanoboa to a wizened old paleontologist all thanks to our interview with Jason Head in Ep. 135. It's an adorable photo, be sure to check it out. Ryan has an e-mail from Barbara in Rochester, MN thanking us for touching back on the early days of the show in our celebratory 150th episode. And lastly Jacob addresses Matthew D.'s Facebook post concerning innovation in electric cars. Instead of charging each time, why not just switch out the batteries? Science! That's why. Jacob explains.
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Music for this week's show provided by:
Blood - Abandoned Pools
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Fly (Feat. Super Cat) - Sugar Ray
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix